The Mission of God: Part 1

Summary of the Book

Christopher J. H. Wright’s book, The Mission of God is on the one hand an example of a biblical theology of mission. However, the book is more than an examination of a specific biblical theme; rather it is an attempt at finding and demonstrating the theme that unites Scripture. Wright himself admits that there exists a certain struggle as to whether the book is a “biblical theology of mission” or a “missional reading of the Bible” (pg. 17). Wright’s hermeneutic will be examined along with his methods later in this paper. However, at the outset we can say that Wright does an admirable job of incorporating key biblical themes into his grand metanarrative of mission. For years theologians have searched for the center of biblical theology, Wright takes many of the suggested centers and demonstrates that they are all pieces of a larger puzzle; that is the mission of God, carried out by the people of God within the world of God.

The Aims

The aims of Wright’s book are basically three. First and foremost, Wright aims to “develop an approach to biblical hermeneutics that sees the mission of God (and the participation in it of God’s people) as a framework within which we can read the whole Bible” (pg. 17). Thus, the overarching purpose of Wright’s work is to provide a new hermeneutical lens through which to read Scripture. This reshaping of the hermeneutical lens constitutes a drastic shift in the methodology of reading the Bible.

Second, and less importantly by Wright’s own admission, is the aim of creating a biblical theology of mission. For Wright this goal is secondary to the first. However, the attention that Wright gives to defining the words “mission,” “missionary,” “missional,” and “missiology/missiological” are indicative of the value he sees in developing an accurate biblical theology of mission for the reader. While for Wright the first aim is more important the second cannot be overlooked. The amount of space Wright gives to discussions later in the book on the implications of the study for the life and practice of the church indicate the implicit importance of this second aim for Wright. For Wright, having the correct hermeneutical lens is the first step; the second step is then to develop a proper understanding of God’s Word that flows from a proper reading.

The final aim of The Mission of God that needs to be noticed is the attempt by the author to relate his overarching theme, the mission of God, to other important theological themes. What Wright is attempting to do in this third aim is to relate his work to other studies in theology. Furthermore, Wright is also validating the importance of these other themes while placing them within a larger context. We could say then that for Wright, the process begins with a fruitful hermeneutical lens, proceeds to a proper appropriation of mission, and then relates itself rightly to the corpus of God’s revelation.

The Methodology

The methodology of Wright’s work is straightforward, in many ways it resembles a good sermon. He tells you what he is going to tell you, he tells you, and then he concludes by telling you what he has already told you. Wright’s methodology is most importantly contained in his hermeneutic. Wright opens by attempting to establish the “missional basis of the bible” (pg. 29) and a “missional hermeneutic” (pg. 31). The question Wright puts forward as he makes his argument is in essence a pragmatic one that asks “is it [his missional hermeneutic] profitable” (pg.31)? Wright’s comfort with post-modern categories continues in his discussion of plurality, diversity, relationship and story while explaining his missional hermeneutic (see chpt 1). For Wright the key to interpreting the Bible missionally is found in the example of Jesus in Luke 24. Wright states, “Jesus himself provided the hermeneutical coherence within which all disciples must read these texts, that is, in the light of the story that leads up to Christ (messianic reading) and the story that leads on from Christ (missional reading)” (pg.41). This argument from Wright then supports his claim that, “The proper way for disciples of the crucified and risen Jesus to read their Scriptures, is messianically and missionally” (pg. 30).

The brilliance of Wright’s work is that this is the starting point for everything else he does in the book. Once the reader agrees with his hermeneutic for reading the biblical text, his other arguments will fall into place. However, if the reader is not convinced by his opening statement the rest of Wright’s work will seem an attempt to force the Bible into a mold for which it was not designed.

Wright establishes his hermeneutic in part one. His final three sections of the book are an attempt to unite the major themes of the Bible, particularly the Old Testament and show their relationship to his overarching theme of mission. Thus, Wright deals with the character and person of God, focusing especially on the person of Jesus as Messiah and divine agent.

Wright also must discuss man’s relationship to God, which brings him into contact with the biblical covenants. This forces Wright to trace the mission of God through the story of the Bible and also explain how the mission of God expresses itself within the context of God’s relationship to His people. Wright can then interact with major events of the Pentateuch, the call of Abraham and the Exodus, which includes instruction (law) on living in relationship with God. Notice that this allows for relationship and mission to become the basis for ethics.

The final section of the book then has to deal with the context for mission, the world. Wright in stating that “the mission of God is as universal as the love of God” (pg. 393) states the arena of mission comprises nothing less than the entire cosmos. In fact Wright concludes that the relationship between God, humanity and the earth is the “creational platform on which the mission of God traces its path through history” (pg. 395). What Wright has done here is to expand the mission of God beyond just any one time period, any one place, or any one people.